An MMOG Game Portal

#1 I'm really not sure how valuable this would be - maybe you could explain your concept better. From my perspective, it seems like MMOGs are fairly exclusive - people often don't have time to play more than one or two. So a portal to lots of different offerings doesn't make a lot of sense.

#2 Sony seems to already have this going... ask anyone who plays Planetside, EQ, etc.

#3 And so FInal Fantasy XI

#4 Personaly I hate games that require you to use an outside program like gamespy.

#5 The sony 'station' thing isn't really a portal as much as collection of their own MMORPGS.

And I agree with Jay, never enough time to play very many.

If you could make a "Game Portal" along the lines of a GURPS RPG that you could move between them with one character or something it could be very interesting. Might (snigger) cause some balance issues though.

Player 1 : Stay back to i'll attack you with my "Sword Of Destruction +3"
* Player hit by Fusion Beam takes, 20000 damage.

#6 Well, the game portal wouldn't be an "outside" program like GameSpy. By design, it would be the universal login tool for all games in the network, thus you'd login through the portal. And it wouldn't be any different than a normal login through an individual game. Just has a lot more offerings for the community.

The idea really isn't to actually have people playing many games at the same time, though quite a few hardcore players will play multiple games if it is easy to get into multiple games, and if it is cheap. Moreso as having them all in one area so people can play the games easily if they, or a guild for example, wishes to move. And by combining the communities internationally, many people who's locales limits them from playing certain games would now have access. The portal would have localisation and management in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia being the main points.

This portal would be centered on independent developers. The idea would be making online distribution a viable solution so indy developers can actually get their MMOG to release and still be able to pay back the costs of developing the game.

As for moving between them, I doubt the portal would allow characters to move between games (if I understand you correctly), but you would be able to access your characters through the client for limited effect. I.e. running a shop, checking stats, etc.

#7 So basically, it's just a cross-marketing gimmick? Given that most consumers are only willing to pay monthly fees for one or two games, why would you want to assist with marketing for your competitors?

#8 I agree, most consumers will only pay monthly fees for one or two games. However, suppose they wish to try new games on the portal, and already purchased one. And this network allowed them to have a trial on any other game in the network for 2 to 3 months where they don't need to purchase or subscribe to a game, but can try it out. This gives the ability to allow the players to find all the information about the games in one central area, be that 10 games in the network, 20 games, etc., through the portal. And then they can try all the games out without having to risk putting money up to purchase the game and subscribe to it.

Since the portal would be international, this allows the developers to reach areas they'd normally be unable to get to without an office in the area, or someone hosting their server farm. And as more games enter the network, the users of each have the ability to try their games. Since they always see the games in the network everytime they login to their game, curiosity, and the trial, will lead many people to trying new games and possibly staying with them.

#9 But... A game could run a trial on it's own. Fileplanet and so on are more than willing to host and hype that sort of thing.

And, once the network members have seen a trial and subscribed to a game, remaining with the portal is actually a liability... it exposes customers to other games they may switch their subscription dollars to. If I were a MMORPG developer, I wouldn't want my customers to even know that other games exist. :)

#10 However it seems to be more of a liability for an independent developer working on an MMOG to work alone. This is straight from market research and a few books I'm reading. Most independent developers barely make release, and cannot get the shelf space in stores. Only a minute few actually get picked up by publishers, and the publishers have chosen their AAA games. That leaves many good games that will not make release, or release but can't get enough users.

Predictions for independent games is around 10,000 users. Independent developers, working online based will not get much higher than that. If a game doesn't reach 100,000 users by the end of the first year, it is not going to survive. With MMOGs costing in tens to twenty millions to develop, that will not pay off the investment to develop the game. 10,000 users buying a $40 game and then paying $10 a month barely reachs 1.5 million. They crash.

Now, suppose there are 20 games in one network each with their 10,000. That's 200,000 in one area, all potentially able to cycle between the games. And yes, though the casual player plays one game, the hardcore players, being the majority of the MMOG industry at the moment and willing to put out the money to play many games and have the best hardware, will play multiple games. Now the games have a better chance of not only getting their game noticed by players, but they can get the players necesary to actually break even and survive. Plus, the 200,000 is not including the other features bringing people in, nor including the fact that if the portal also was able to entice those in Asia, specifically South Korea, to use it, that's a few million users right there.

#11 Do you mean like www.stratics.com?

#12 Actually, we are in the works of partnering with Stratics to provide the community features to be used in NEO when launched.

#13 There already is a major one.. ironically its www.mmorpg.com :)

#14 Sorry to necropost this but I found it interesting and I have been away for a while.

I think INDIE's should consider "Micro MMOG".. a small fee of under $5 a month and built as a community project.

#15 You cant charge $5 a month, its just not feasible. Processing charge will eat that.

#16 Processing charge would eat a lot of that, true.

You COULD go, say, $15 for three months - or $20 for four, or something of that nature though, if you want to go "cheaper and more select".

Although with MMO prices all in the $13+ range now, soon even $10 will seem like a bargain. ;)

#17 By the by...

The real way to do this is to charge more, not less. ;)

Produce a product of EXTREMELY high quality. STABLE, FUN. Then launch it with a target audience in mind that is very, very specifically targetted. Target a NEED. Right now, a genre need for MMOs is for a really, really, really dynamite player vs player game. Darkfall is a small-time release that is going to be very big, because it's targetting this need perfectly, and from what I know of the devs, will release flawlessly.

Another need might be for a game that is specifically targetted to roleplayers. Remember in some of the old text based muds, you had to APPLY to get in? With a detailed character background typed up? Make a game you have to APPLY to get into. As odd as it sounds, so long as you are hoping for the 2-10k subscription range, you will very likely get it so long as you maintain the environment you are shooting for. And you can almost certainly charge more than the average game for such a product, assuming your quality is high, because it is a niche market and a special service.

The MMO market is broadening to the extent that 10k sub games that charge $20-30 a month per player can do JUST fine, assuming they are perfectly targetted, well advertised in the right venues, and of very high quality service both pre and post release.